Building Bridges Network Monthly Events
27 August 2026
Join us at our next Building Bridges Network event, as we bring together voices from across the disability and community services sector for a practical and honest conversation about the future direction of the NDIS.
27 August 2026 - Thursday Afternoon
Venue: Strathfield Golf Club, 52 Weeroona Rd, Strathfield NSW
Beyond the Journey: Making Accessible Travel the Norm, Not the Exception
Where can accessible travel go next?… What barriers still impact people with disability?… How can safer, more inclusive journeys become the norm?
Join us this month for another afternoon of learning, connection – followed by networking and refreshments proudly sponsored by Soteria Independent Living.
Watch out for more information
about this upcoming event
Building Bridges Network is a business-to-business community platform built for the community services sector. Our purpose is to strengthen how organisations work together by making it easier to connect with the right people, exchange real-world knowledge, and build trusted referral and collaboration pathways.
We bring together providers, professionals, sector leaders, and purpose-aligned partners creating a place where information becomes action and relationships turn into outcomes.
Stay tuned as we reveal more info soon!
More About The Event
Travelling is something many of us take for granted. Whether it’s catching a train to work, attending a medical appointment, going on a family holiday, or flying interstate, travel provides opportunities for independence, employment, education, recreation, and social connection.
For people living with disability, however, every journey often requires careful planning, additional support, specialised equipment, and consideration of safety, accessibility, funding, and risk management.
Small barriers that many people never notice can significantly impact a person’s ability to participate in everyday life.
Join Building Bridges Network for an engaging and practical event that explores accessible travel from multiple perspectives, including lived experience, allied health, accessible tourism, transport, and mobility engineering.
What does accessible travel really look like?
Join us for an engaging event as we explore travel through the eyes of people with lived experience, allied health professionals, accessible travel experts, and mobility engineering specialists.
The session will explore:
- Planning accessible domestic and international travel
- Flying with mobility equipment and assistive technology
- Accessible accommodation and transport considerations
- Vehicle modifications and accessible transport
- Wheelchair transportation and passenger safety
- Travelling with support workers and carers
- Managing medications, equipment, and complex health needs while travelling
- NDIS funding considerations for travel supports and equipment
- Common challenges and practical solutions from lived experience
- Emerging technology and innovations supporting accessible travel
Meet our Panel Speakers
Nabila Laskar
Your Co-Host
Nabila is a passionate disability advocate and a person living with disability who uses a wheelchair for mobility. She uses a power wheelchair when she is out and about and a manual wheelchair indoors.
She is passionate about advocating for people with disability and working towards creating greater inclusion, accessibility, and opportunities for everyone. She believes in the importance of using her excellent communication skills and lived experience to help raise awareness, challenge barriers, and contribute to positive change within the disability sector.
She enjoys attending networking events, disability expos, and community events, as they provide valuable opportunities to connect with others, share experiences, and stay informed about developments within the disability sector. One of her favourite events is the Building Bridges Network Australia monthly Thursday event, where she enjoys connecting with colleagues, learning about the topic of the month, and gaining knowledge that strengthens her advocacy and understanding.
Through her advocacy and community involvement, she hopes to continue building connections, empowering others, and helping create a more inclusive and accessible society for people with disability.
Agnes Abelsen
Founder & CEO – Travengers
Agnes Abelsen is the founder and CEO of award-winning social enterprise Travengers, which she started after seeing through her younger autistic sister how difficult it could be to access travel, friendship and independence. With 15 years’ experience in the disability sector, a background as a Learning Disability Nurse and lived experience of ADHD, she has led Travengers in supporting hundreds of autistic and neurodivergent young people to build confidence, social connection and greater independence through real-world experiences.
Ali Akbarian
Chief Engineer & Owner – Mobility Engineering
Ali Akbarian is Chief Engineer and an owner of Mobility Engineering, one of Australia’s leading specialists in accessible transport, vehicle modification and road safety. He has extensive experience in vehicle engineering, certification and compliance, wheelchair accessible transport, occupant restraints, and the safety requirements associated with helping people with disability travel safely and independently.
In addition to his engineering work, Ali contributes to national and international standards development and provides technical expertise to industry and government advisory groups that help inform legislation, policy and regulatory frameworks. Through his work with Occupational Therapists, participants, vehicle modifiers, regulators and other stakeholders, he helps bridge clinical needs, engineering solutions and safety requirements to improve mobility, inclusion and community participation for people with disability.
Stuart Hurst
Founder – The Travelling Para
Stuart Hurst is the founder of The Travelling Para, sharing practical insights and lived experience to help make travel more accessible for wheelchair users. A passionate traveller for more than 40 years, Stuart sustained a spinal cord injury and traumatic brain injury following an accident in Nepal in 2018. Since becoming a wheelchair user, he has continued travelling and uses his experiences to highlight both the possibilities and challenges of accessible travel.
With a previous career as an aircraft engineer with Qantas and Air New Zealand, Stuart brings a unique combination of aviation knowledge and lived experience to disability advocacy. Through The Travelling Para, he advocates for improved accessibility, greater awareness, and better handling of wheelchairs and mobility equipment, while encouraging people with disability to continue exploring, travelling and participating in the world around them.
Networking & Refreshments Sponsor
Networking & Refreshments sponsored by Soteria.
Soteria is a registered NDIS provider delivering SIL and ILO across NSW, Vic, Qld and Tas. At the heart of Soteria’s approach is a simple but powerful belief: it is about home, not housing.
A real home is a place where people feel safe, experience belonging, express themselves and live life their way – with support shaped around each person.
Event Vendors
Mobility Engineering
Mobility Engineering is a dedicated team passionate about providing safe and suitable transport solutions, particularly for people facing mobility challenges, including children and vehicle enthusiasts.
Pathways Collective Australia
Pathways Collective Australia works with boutique disability and healthcare providers who are ready to clarify their niche, strengthen referral pathways and grow with integrity.
Nudge
At Nudge, they supply equipment that empowers people with disabilities to live unrestricted lives. Their range includes reliable shower commodes, patient lifters and a variety of adaptive solutions such as handcycles and sports wheelchairs.
Spirit powered by CatholicCare
Spirit reflects the essence of a person, their personality, energy and what makes them unique. It is a reminder that a person’s worth is not defined by ability or circumstance, and that everyone has a spirit that shines through. The name captures the heart of Spirit’s mission and gives its services a fresh, distinctive identity within the sector.
Support Finance Group
Support Finance Group provides strategic lending solutions designed for the NDIS and allied health sectors. While providers focus on compliance and care, Support Finance Group focuses on their financial health, specialising in securing commercial property and business growth capital where traditional banks often fall short.
Who Should Attend?
This event has been designed for anyone involved in supporting people with disability, including:
- Allied health
- Support Coordinators
- Recovery Coaches
- Support Workers
- SIL Providers
- Community Nursing Providers
- Disability Service Providers
- Equipment Suppliers
- Vehicle Modification Specialists
Why Allied Health Professionals Should Attend
Accessible travel involves far more than prescribing equipment. It requires strong clinical reasoning, an understanding of current regulations, and knowledge of emerging technologies to maximise independence while ensuring safety.This session will provide practical insights into:
- Vehicle modifications and emerging transport technologies
- Passenger restraints, harnesses, and wheelchair transport safety
- Selecting appropriate mobility equipment for active community participation
- Clinical justification for NDIS funding applications
- Current transport regulations and compliance requirements
- Collaborating with mobility engineers and other professionals to achieve better participant outcomes
Whether you work in community rehabilitation, Assistive Technology, Functional Capacity Assessments, or complex NDIS supports, you’ll gain practical knowledge to strengthen your clinical practice and improve participant outcomes.
Why Support Workers and Core Support Providers Should Attend
Support workers play a vital role in helping people with disability travel safely and participate confidently in the community.This session will provide practical knowledge on:
- Safe community access and transport practices
- Wheelchair restraint systems, vehicle safety, and transfers
- Reducing manual handling risks and transport-related incidents
- Duty of care and current transport compliance requirements
- Supporting participants during community outings and travel
- Promoting greater independence while maintaining safety
Gain practical strategies to improve participant outcomes, enhance safety, and deliver higher-quality community support.
Why Support Coordinators Should Attend
Support Coordinators play a key role in identifying barriers to community participation and connecting participants with the right supports.This session will help you:
- Identify travel-related barriers impacting participant goals
- Recognise when referrals for allied health, Assistive Technology, vehicle modifications, or mobility engineering are appropriate
- Strengthen NDIS recommendations and improve participant outcomes
- Better coordinate multidisciplinary supports for complex participants
- Increase confidence discussing accessible travel options with participants and families
- Build valuable connections with organisations specialising in accessible travel
Gain practical knowledge to better support participants in achieving greater independence and community participation.
Why Join Us?
Why Join Us?
Our Annual Sponsors
Thank you to all our Annual Sponsors
and Event Vendors!
A sincere thank you to our Annual Premium Sponsors. Building Bridges simply wouldn’t exist without the organisations which choose to invest in knowledge-sharing, connection, and stronger outcomes across our community. Your ongoing support is what makes these events possible and we’re genuinely grateful
Vendor Premier
Partner Plus
Partner
Connect with Building Bridges Network
Get in touch with us
If you’re interested in collaborating, speaking, or exploring partnership opportunities, we’d love to hear from you.